MMDA vows shorter period for Magallanes repair

By Mike Frialde, The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines - The repair and rehabilitation of the Manila to SLEX (Southern Luzon Expressway) portion of the Magallanes Interchange will now only take 30 days to be finished, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.

The repair of the 301-meter long portion of the interchange was started by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) at midnight yesterday. The MMDA had earlier allowed the DPWH to work on the interchange repair from midnight to 5 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Sundays to Thursdays.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said the DPWH will repair the steel expansion joints of the interchange. The DPWH will also retrofit the interchange to prepare it for a possible 7.2 intensity earthquake.

Tolentino had also requested the DPWH to submit a compressed work schedule for the project as the MMDA had wanted the project completed in four months instead of the eight months being proposed by the DPWH.

The DPWH intends to retrofit, repair and replace the asphalt overlay on the four-level partial turbine interchange in Makati City that serves as the junction between SLEX and EDSA.

Following the proposal of then President Marcos in 1969 to create six circumferential roads, the Magallanes Interchange was opened in 1975 to extend EDSA to Roxas Boulevard.

According to the DPWH, Stage 1 (Manila to SLEX) would take at least 45 days to complete, Stage 2 (Cubao to Roxas Boulevard) 75 days, Stage 3 (SLEX to Cubao/Monumento) 30 days, Stage 4 (Cubao to Manila/SLEX) 30 days and Stage 5 (Roxas Boulevard to Monumento) 60 days.